Julien: Bruins won't ‘roll over' at home

Monday

Jun 6, 2011 at 6:00 AMJun 6, 2011 at 11:02 PM

It's not the end of the world — or even the end of the Stanley Cup Finals, according to Claude Julien. The Bruins coach believes all the Vancouver Canucks have done is hold their serve by taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series at home.

By Bud Barth TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

It's not the end of the world — or even the end of the Stanley Cup Finals, according to Claude Julien.

The Bruins coach believes all the Vancouver Canucks have done is hold their serve by taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series at home.

Now, if the Bruins can do the same — starting with Game 3 tonight at the TD Garden — the teams will be tied, and it'll be a best-of-three series for hockey's Holy Grail.

“It's not the end of the world here, guys,” Julien told the media after the Canucks scored 11 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 victory and took command of the series Saturday night.

“We lost a game, but we're a better team than that,” the coach added, “and we're a team that's bounced back all through the season. I don't see an issue here.”

That may be oversimplifying matters. The Bruins must now win four of the next five games to capture their first Stanley Cup in 39 years. Still, there has to be some consolation in the fact that they pushed the Canucks to the limit in the first two games.

Take away those 29.5 fateful seconds — Saturday's brief overtime and the 18.5 seconds that remained in regulation when Vancouver scored to win the opener, 1-0 — and the teams are dead even.

“In the last two games, we've lost by one goal and still I don't think we've played the way we can,” Julien said. “We didn't come here just to roll over. We're definitely going to go back home and regroup and bounce back.”

The Bruins rallied from an 0-2 deficit and beat Montreal in the opening round, and that was after losing the first two games at home, not on the road. So they've been here before.

“It does give you some consolation to know you've done it before,” agreed goalie Tim Thomas yesterday, shortly after the team's charter arrived back home. “But, having said that, tomorrow will be time to stop talking about it and it'll be time to start doing it.

“Tomorrow is a big game for us. We have to come out on top to get back in this series — one game at a time.”

Julien has made it crystal clear that he feels the Bruins lost the first two games more than the Canucks won them.

“It's our own fault,” Julien said after Game 2. “We beat ourselves with some bad decision-making and some poor puck management.”

The reference, of course, was to defenseman Johnny Boychuk's ill-advised pinch that led to Raffi Torres' game-winner in the final seconds of Game 1, and Thomas' lunge at the puck-toting Alex Burrows, which resulted in the Vancouver winger's wraparound goal in overtime Saturday.

The Canucks scored two big goals in the third periods at Rogers Arena — the game-winner in Game 1, and the goal that erased Boston's 2-1 advantage — its first lead of the series — in Game 2. The Bruins were outshot, 11-5, in the final 20 minutes Saturday.

Vancouver's third-period dominance has become a popular media topic, especially since the Bruins were a strong third-period team during the regular season, outscoring opponents, 94-57.

“It's something we have to improve on,” Julien agreed yesterday. “I thought we had good momentum when we did the right things, and when they took the momentum away from us, it's because we gave them an opportunity … by turning pucks over and our puck management.”

The Bruins appeared a bit weary yesterday after their 5 1/2-hour flight home plus the loss of three hours with the time-zone change. Plans were for them to stay at a hotel in Boston last night to get some rest.

The flight and time change affect both teams equally, but Vancouver — because of its location and division — dealt with more travel this season than the Bruins.

“Obviously, we're not used to it,” center Patrice Bergeron said, “but, at the same time, we can't let that affect us. That's the schedule, that's the way it is, and we can't control it, so we're going to have to make the most of it. … It's not an excuse.”

Coming home, where the Bruins have won three straight after an erratic postseason start, should certainly be a tonic.

“We're all excited to be back — back in our time zone, back in front of our fans,” winger Nathan Horton said. “It's going to really help us to, hopefully, get back in the series.”